Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 151 Severed Finger
A severed finger adorned with a jade pendant, stained with blood.

The severed finger was bent, with a single golden hair in the middle.

When Zhu Wen returned to Huang Chao's army camp, the first thing he saw was this severed dead man's finger.

By this time, Huang Chao had already swept through Xuzhou, crossed the Huai River, and entered the Huainan region.

The term "bringing in the chaos" refers to Cao Shixiong's personal guards.

This was also the only relic left to Zhu Wen by Cao Shixiong, a friend who had only met him once.

"When Cao Langjun fled from Yang Fuguang's troops, he was defeated in Huzhou and killed by Pei Qu, the military governor of Zhenhai." The guard's words were very brief.

Zhu Wen silently held the severed finger in his hands.

The severed finger, having been treated with lime and musk, did not rot, and the joints still seemed to retain the strength it had when it was alive.

The image of that fierce, tiger-like man with the dark, iron-like face immediately flashed before Zhu Wen's eyes again.

He could already imagine what Cao Shixiong and the others had gone through over the past few months.

After breaking out of Qizhou, Cao Shixiong led a thousand brave warriors to stay behind and fought a bloody battle for three days. Even when the powerful Yan Shuai personally led his troops, Cao Shixiong, along with Xu Tangju, Wang Chongyin, and others, led dozens of remaining soldiers to fight their way out, regrouped heroes, and raised an army.

They crossed the river and fought their way through Jiangxi and Zhejiang, operating as a lone force without a base or allies, weaving through waves of enemy troops on unfamiliar land.

They were defeated time and time again, but with their perseverance they rose up again and again, holding back the government forces in the south. Cao Shixiong even went north alone at one point, commanding light cavalry in the Battle of Linqu, making great contributions to Shang Rang and Meng Kai's victory over the Pinglu army with fewer troops.

Now the main force of the Cao army has reached Guabu, north of the Yangtze River, where they drink from the river.

Cao Shixiong and his soldiers ignited a light in the darkness, forging ahead with determination, only to vanish just before dawn.

Miracles don't last forever, and they ultimately failed to rise again from the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood.

Are we friends now?

"Calculate."

"I hope that many years from now, you will still remember me as your friend."

Zhu Wen recalled his last conversation with Cao Shixiong and suddenly burst into self-deprecating laughter.

White hair as new, meeting as old friends.

He certainly understood what the golden hair in the severed finger represented.

Hua Wang had at least three ribs broken by Yang Xingmi with the hilt of his sword.

But this woman doesn't need to fully recover from her injuries to stir up trouble.

She also has her brains and beauty to use.

"That woman, Youdi, must die," Zhu Wen reaffirmed his conviction.

However, he did not blame himself for accepting Yang Xingmi's mediation.

If Yang Xing hadn't secretly informed him, he would have already died at the hands of the Flower King.

Besides, no one can predict the future.

All the lamentations of "if only I had known" are nothing but the self-pity of the weak.

"Brother Cao, I will offer this woman's head as a sacrifice to you."

Zhu Wen bit his fingertip, smeared the blood on his lips, and solemnly swore an oath about the severed finger.

"Or, how about I give you a fever on her breasts and thighs too?" Zhu Wen rarely said anything crude. "But Brother Cao, your grandfather wanted to leave so many beauties from the Mount Tai Sect to you, but you didn't even look at them. Even if such a vicious woman is a beauty of unparalleled grace, how could you possibly care about her?"

Zhu Wen turned to Cao Shixiong's personal guards: "How many enemies did Lord Cao kill before he was executed?"

“Thirty-five.” The guard did not hesitate at all, raising a pair of hands. Only three fingers remained on his left hand. When the two hands were put together, they were exactly three and five.

Zhu Wen reached out and gave him a high five: "When a man dies, the best companion is not the tears of relatives and friends, but the blood of the enemy. Brother Cao, even in the end, was still the Cao Shixiong I knew." He thought that if Cao Shixiong had a spirit in heaven, this was probably the sentence he would most like to hear.

The blood of the deceased has been shed, but the living must still forge ahead.

Zhu Wen arrived at Huang Chao's central command tent. At this time, Huang Chao was already preparing for the crossing of the river.

“Even if you had come back sooner, nothing would have changed,” Huang Chao said calmly. “On the other side of the Yangtze River, there is Commander Lei.”

Between Cao Shixiong and them, there is more than just the Yangtze River.

The most powerful of the four great generals of the Tang Dynasty was Gao Pian, the Thunder General. His power surpassed even the raging waves of the Yangtze River.

Lei Shuai was a direct descendant of the Bohai Gao clan, the grandson of the famous general Gao Chongwen, and a descendant of Emperor Shenwu of Northern Qi, Gao Huan, and Prince Lanling, Gao Changgong.

He was the oldest among the four generals and was also considered to have received the true teachings of the God of War, Shi Xiong.

He once brought Nanzhao to the brink of collapse, and in the first half of this year, he launched a two-pronged attack by land and sea within a month, completely destroying the rebel army of Yuan Chang and Wang Ying that had been ravaging Jiangdong for two years.

With General Zhen Ranyu of the Flame Army killed in battle, General Qi Kerang of the Snow Army failing in his campaign, and General Li Guochang of the Wind Army stationed at the frontier and unable to be easily mobilized, the only remaining trump card for the imperial court to use against the bandit army was General Lei.

Zhu Wen nodded: "This disciple understands."

Huang Chao was worried about Zhu Wen's feelings of self-blame, and Zhu Wen understood this.

"Is there any chance of winning?"

"No," Huang Chao replied quite directly.

"So all we have to do is escape right under Lei Shuai's nose?"

Huang Chao smiled and said, "Instead of running away, why not follow the example of those rogue generals from Xichuan?"

This was a bloody incident committed by Gao Pian when he was stationed in Xichuan.

In order to deal with the "sudden generals" in Shu who were clamoring for supplies, Gao Pian creatively invented a new tactic.

Tomorrow, pay will be distributed at the drill ground; there is no need to wear armor.

On that day, the Chengdu training ground was filled with deafening roars of anger, as swords and axes were drawn and the ground was instantly engulfed by a boundless sea of ​​blood.

This was just the beginning of the killing.

Later historical records state: On the day of Xinwei, Gao Pian, using the name of Tu Jiang, sent men to ambush and arrest him at night. They surrounded his house, broke down walls and doors to enter, and drove away and killed the old, young, pregnant, and sick. Infants were either thrown to the steps or struck against pillars, blood flowing in streams, and cries shook the heavens. Thousands died, and at night, carts were used to load the corpses and throw them into the river. A woman, facing execution, brandished her halberd and cursed loudly: "Gao Pian! You have unjustly stripped meritorious soldiers of their titles, rank, clothing, and provisions, inciting public anger. Fortunately, you escaped, yet you do not reflect on your own faults, but instead, through deception, you have killed nearly ten thousand innocent people! How can Heaven and Earth, ghosts and gods, tolerate such a thing! I will surely appeal to God, so that one day you will slaughter your entire family as you are today, suffer the same injustice and humiliation as I am today, and live in the same fear and anxiety as I am today!" After speaking, she bowed to Heaven and angrily accepted her execution.

Slaughtering mutinous troops was common practice, but the extent to which Gao Pian exterminated an entire clan, including women and children, was exceptionally cruel and rare.

Zhu Wen understood perfectly well what Huang Chao meant when he brought up the past incident of Gao Pian's massacre of the Tu generals.

Of the four commanders, Commander Lei and Commander Yan had both studied the legendary Dark Art of War. In the Battle of Qizhou, the number of the rebel army's families, including the elderly, women, and children, who were massacred by Commander Yan was not small.

Huang Chao made no attempt to hide his contempt for such things.

In terms of controlling the army and the civilians, Huang Chao was far superior to Wang Xianzhi and also to most government troops.

The wisdom of top strategists knows no bounds. Huang Chao's judgment that the grass army was no match for Commander Lei undoubtedly stemmed from detailed intelligence. His analysis revealed that Commander Lei's army was far stronger than Commander Yan's.

However, Huang Chao still believed that even at the cost of losses, crossing the river and continuing south would allow his rebel army to grow stronger.

If this can be achieved, then even defeat and sacrifice will have been worthwhile.

"It seems that Master has already made plans."

"That's right, after crossing the river, you will meet an acquaintance."

Huang Chao stroked his short beard and smiled mysteriously.

(End of this chapter)